🎙 Songs That Don’t Suck: Road Trips, Risky Snippets & Four Songs Worth Your Ears
Welcome to a milestone moment: Episode 80 of Songs That Don’t Suck is officially the beginning of a new era. That’s right — we’re now including short music clips to preview each featured track! Inspired by the great Alan Cross (of The Ongoing History of New Music), Mark Bradbourne is taking the leap into fair use territory.
After a 20-hour solo drive and plenty of musical reflection, this week brings four stellar tracks that rise above the noise — even in a world filled with algorithmic chaos and indie goldmines.
🎧 Why Snippets, Why Now?
Alan Cross shared some invaluable insight after Mark reached out with a question about music licensing in podcasts. The answer?
❝We operate under the assumption of fair dealing… snippets only, for illustrative purposes.❞
That was all Mark needed to hear. So now, for the first time ever, you’ll hear a taste of each featured song directly in the podcast — 20 to 30 seconds of audio goodness. If an artist objects, he’ll re-edit. But if not? We roll on.
This isn’t piracy. This is discovery. This is curation. This is community. 🙌
🚘 Road Trip Fuel: Music Podcasts and Music Podcasts About Music
Along the I-77 corridor between Cleveland and North Carolina, Mark binged older episodes of Alan Cross’s show and dove deep into the intersection of technology vs tradition in music. One key insight?
📻 When radio came along, the music industry panicked… but it turned out that radio boosted sales.
Same goes for music snippets in podcasts. Exposure matters.
So here we go. Let’s light the fuse.
🎶 This Week’s Songs That Don’t Suck (Episode 80 Edition)
1. “Call Me” – Icarus Phoenix
💫 Think Fountains of Wayne with fresh legs and indie sparkle.
This track is pure alt-pop perfection. It channels Welcome Interstate Managers–era FoW (Mark admits he forgot three albums — sorry Sky Full of Holes!). With melodic guitar lines, emotional vocal hooks, and an effortlessly upbeat tone, Call Me is an instant add to your sunny-day playlist.
🎧 Listen to a snippet:
🎵 “Call me if you need a place to stay…”
🆕 Listen to Icarus Phoenix
2. “Sick Sweet” – Wishy
🎧 Wall-of-sound pop rock that deserves your headphones.
Wishy delivers a dense, layered soundscape that flirts with nostalgia but lands firmly in the now. There’s a warm analog feel here that blends clever keyboard work and fuzzy guitars into a dreamy swirl. No filler — just sonic depth that’s both rich and listenable.
3. “Matches” – Jonah Kagan
🕯️ Moody, moody, moody — like a Sith Lord version of Noah Kahan.
Jonah Kagan’s vocal delivery is raw, intense, and just imperfect enough to feel human. The production is tight, but not slick. There’s a shadowy weight to the song — the kind of darkness that feels both beautiful and deeply relatable. Is it folk? Is it rock? Who cares — it’s good.
4. “Don’t Know” – The Wild Feathers
🐦 A tighter, rockier evolution of a roots-rock mainstay.
The Wild Feathers’ second single from their upcoming album hints at a more aggressive edge — with riffs that flirt with Day Tripper and harmonies that feel as natural as breathing. As always, their blend of Nashville songwriting and alt-rock instrumentation delivers. Consider us officially hyped for the album drop.
🎶 Support the artists. Buy the merch. Spin the tracks. And if you’re an artist included in this episode and want your music removed, Mark will happily adjust. But if you’re cool with it, just know it’s all love.
Until next week:
👉 Keep listening to and supporting Songs That Don’t Suck.
